Polyethylene inventories are growing as suppliers continue to hold out for lower prices, according to spot-trading platform The Plastics Exchange (TPE) and its reporting partner The PetroChem Wire . TPE reports that the export market largely dried up in the third quarter, with global drops in...

Effective Feb. 1, 2009, DSM Engineering Plastics and Ashland Distribution will dissolve their distribution agreement in North America, as DSM has turned to the Channel Prime Alliance as its new distributor there. The business relationship between the companies in Europe and the Asia/Pacific region...

DSM Elastomers (Heerlen, Netherlands) has begun commercial production of high-performance EPDM grades using a new reactive extruder (REX) line at its factory in Triunfo, Brazil. Initially, the facility will produce downsheared and functionalized polymers for use as viscosity index improvers, as...

Although standard logic has pointed to the Middle East as the likely start point for most new polyolefin capacity, due to suppliers’ ability to there get ‘close to the wellhead’ for petroleum, the building block for many thermoplastics, there have been recent announcements indicating that some...

After a brief Ike-related spike, spot polyethylene (PE) prices resumed their slide, dropping $0.02/lb according to spot polymer trading platform The Plastics Exchange (TPE; www.theplasticsexchange.com ). TPE and partner The PetroChem Wire report that the return of many plants in the gulf to full...

Although the hurricane has long since passed through Texas, the petrochemical hub in and around the Houston area continues to regain its footing in Ike’s wake, with several producers declaring force majeure. On Sept. 19, Bayer MaterialScience LLC (Pittsburgh, PA), the North American subsidiary of...

Volumes were high, and prices were steady to a little firmer on the spot polyethylene ( PE ) market as participants weighed uncertainty about material deliverability, the state of contract pricing, and material allocations.